By Cathy Maulidi:
Public Appointments Committee (Pac) of Parliament Chairperson Joyce Chitsulo has indicated that they will summon Foreign Affairs Ministry officials to explain their side of the story on the issue of David Bisnowaty’s appointment as Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Malawi to the State of Israel.
“When we meet for our quarterly committee meeting from next week, May 20, we will summon them [Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials] to explain why they are continuing to violate the law.
“We, as a committee, already noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was sending principal officers to embassies and consulars without confirmation from Pac. We, as a committee, already wrote them [on the issue] and they once appeared before the committee on the same,” Chitsulo said.
This is coming at a time civil society organisations are still pressing government to remove Bisnowaty from the position of Charge d’Affaires pending confirmation by Pac.
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In a statement released yesterday, signed by leaders of Forum for National Development (FND) and Malawi Civil Society Led Black Economic Empowerment Movement (Mablem), FND National Coordinator Fryson Chodzi said they are going to petition Parliament once Pac starts meeting on May 20.
“We, the undersigned, express profound concerns regarding the recent appointment of David Bisnowaty as the Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Malawi to the State of Israel. We firmly believe that this appointment lacks adherence to Malawi’s laws, thereby raising significant legal and ethical questions.
“Our concerns primarily stem from the apparent absence of parliamentary involvement, notably the Public Appointments Committee, in the confirmation process of Mr. Bisnowaty,” the statement reads.
“It is imperative that both Parliament, through the Public Appointments Committee, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs take prompt action to rectify this anomaly and ensure compliance with the law.
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“We eagerly await a response from the relevant authorities and trust that prompt action will be taken to address our concerns and uphold the principles of legality and national interest,” the leaders add.
Recently, Foreign Affairs Minister Nancy Tembo said Bisnowaty, being Charge d’Affaires, does not require to go through that process, arguing that the process will be followed when Malawi appoints an ambassador.
“He is a Malawian of Jewish origin. He has been an MP before and he is just helping us for free, using his resources. We are not paying him,” Tembo said.
Reacting to the development, Bisnowaty also said the Malawi Government has not flouted any procedure, indicating that he is just a caretaker at the embassy.
“I did not need to go through the Public Appointments Committee. Only when I’m confirmed as ambassador can I go through the committee.
“And I came here on pro-bono basis. I don’t get a salary. I was using my resources to run the embassy until a budget for the embassy came but I’m not being paid here. People need to look at the good things that someone is doing and not only the negative things because we needed to open urgently with the Malawians who are coming here and, of course, there was no better person to do that [than me],” Bisnowaty said.
Last month, Malawi announced that it had opened an embassy in Tel Aviv, eyeing longstanding bilateral relations with Israel.
However, the CSOs have disputed that Bisnowaty is helping Malawi on pro-bono basis questioning what would be his interest to just help the Malawi Government.
“It is sad that the Minister of Foreign Affairs wants to convince us that Bisnowaty is volunteering while he is the controlling officer of the funds going to the embassy. We cannot allow what happened in Dubai to happen again in Israel,” the CSOs statement reads.
